


Mantra

by mrs-storm-andrews (no_fucking_idea_for_a_name)



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Post S6, Sibling Bonding, theonsa reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-16
Updated: 2017-07-16
Packaged: 2018-12-02 23:37:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11519901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/no_fucking_idea_for_a_name/pseuds/mrs-storm-andrews
Summary: Yara's face turned to stone and Theon braced himself for whatever was about to come next. But after a second her features started to soften, her eyes capturing Theon's. Releasing a small puff, she said: "Theon… Theon, she is alive. I've told you. "





	Mantra

The ocean mist was freezing cold. Colder than his chambers in Winterfell on a howling winter morning. Colder than the nights he had spent with Robb in the woods hunting. Colder than his heart the day he had killed Ser Rodrik. Colder than the kennels, where voices from the past had haunted him through sleepless hours. Colder than the river he had crossed with Sansa clinging to his crippled hands in mere panic.  
_Sansa…_  
A sickening fear crawled into his mind, spreading into his bones mercilessly. For all he knew, she could be dead. Left to die in a cold forest. He had left her. With people he barely knew. He should have stayed with her, taken her to the Wall himself. But what could he have done to keep her safe? He was too broken, too thin, too weak to fight anybody. _Reek, Reek, it rhymes with weak._ The cold and the sickening threat crept further into his body.  
His eyes started to burn. Maybe from the cold air that hovered above the ocean's surface. Maybe from tears he tried to suppress so hard it made his head spin slightly. Sansa could be dead and it would be entirely his fault. His fault. Again, his fault. _Reek, Reek, it rhymes with weak._

"We'll reach the coast by dawn," a voice behind him said. Theon turned around so abruptly that his vision blurred for a second. It took him another second to fully identify the voice and the face infront of him as his sister's.  
" _Queen_ Daenerys," Yara said, almost sneering the title, "equipped us with enough gold to bribe our way to Winterfell." Theon could tell that Yara was wroth about the quest Daenerys had devolved to her. While the Queen headed to Dragonstone, Yara and her fleet were ordered to sail North and arrange an alliance with House Stark.  
"This is not what I was having in mind, pledging our fleet to her cause," she hissed under her breath angrily. "We need to fight our father's murderer, but instead we're about to kneel before the _King in the North_!" She sneered this title even more. "Kneeling, Theon! Can you imag--" It was just now that Yara noticed the slight tremble of her brother's hands.

Yara's face turned to stone and Theon braced himself for whatever was about to come next. But after a second her features started to soften, her eyes capturing Theon's. Releasing a small puff, she said: "Theon… Theon, she is alive. I've told you. "  
"You cannot know that. You cannot."  
"No, I cannot, but I know that _Lord Bootlicker_ got his ears everywhere. She is alive and she killed that little..." Yara stopped mid-sentence, making up her mind about what to say next. "She is alive, little brother. You saved her. Do you hear me?"  
Theon didn't reply. His gaze nearly burnt a hole into the wooden planks beneath his feet before he  turned around, facing the ocean again. He could hear Yara sign and eventually leave.  
"My name is Theon Greyjoy. I'm a brother to the Queen of the Iron Islands. I escaped. With Sansa", Theon muttered to himself so that only the waves in front of him could hear his mantra. "My name is Theon Greyjoy. I'm a brother to…" 

 

_**10 days later…** _

The hall was crowed. Northerners and Ironborn were facing each other, the atmosphere so dense that it made Theon's lungs burn in anticipation. They had to leave all their weapons outside. Theon could sense that the blood in Yara's veins was boiling with anger, considering what she regarded as humiliation.  
Theon couldn't care less. His gaze was frantically wandering. She was nowhere to be seen. There was the blonde knight. There was also her squire. But Sansa was nowhere to be seen. Theon's mind started to race. She should be here. With the knight and the squire. She has to be. Otherwise, it would mean, that he had failed her. Again. _Reek, Reek, it rhymes with weak._

A sudden movement snapped him out of his thoughts. Yara had grabbed his arm. The people around them didn't notice the small gesture. When Theon lifted his gaze off her hand, he noticed that she was trying to gesture into a certain direction with her eyes.  
At first he didn't understand, but then he saw red hair floating through the crowd towards Jon. He couldn't breathe as a mixture of feelings hit his chest hard. He was relieved, so relieved to see her. She was alive. Then another feeling crept into this mind. Did she hate him? She must hate him. He had left her. Theon should have brought her to the Wall, but he left like the coward he was. _Reek, Reek, it rhymes--_ As if she could sense his train of thoughts, Sansa's head suddenly spun into his direction. She saw him. And he saw her. 

Every movement around him, every sound, every person - everything blurred into a void. All Theon could see were Sansa's eyes on his, her expression unreadable. And just as he was about to lower his gaze, he caught her lips turning into a smile. It was the warmest smile Theon had ever seen.  
Before he could help it, he felt his own lips turning upwards into something that must have been a smile, too. And for the first time in months, if not years, his mantra became reality.

_I am Theon Greyjoy._


End file.
